Democracy Now! 1

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Cynthia Davila <cynthiadav95@mail.fresnostate.edu>
Date: Friday, February 14, 2014
Subject: Democracy Now!
To: "tkubal2.2009.protest@blogger.com" <tkubal2.2009.protest@blogger.com>

Cynthia Davila

Professor Kubal

February 11, 2014

Sociology

Democracy Now!

As I read Democracy Now, I found a couple topics that were very interesting. The first case study that caught my attention I would say was about the 3-year-old girl from Kabul that has been diagnosed with polio, since the last case of the disease in Afghanistan capital since 2001 when the U.S. was invaded.  It was said that the disease paralyzed the young girl. Last year there were 14 polio cases reported all in Afghanistan. There has been a vaccination campaign in Kabul sent out by the Afghan Health Ministry to try to get rid of this disease before it spreads or anyone else gets it. I found this very sad because the girl who was diagnosed with this disease is too young and not only that but doesn't deserve to be paralyzed at such a young age.

The second topic that I enjoyed learning about was on the OWS (Occupy Wall Street) Activist Cecily McMillan who faces up to seven years in prison for alleged assault of cop. The trial takes place in New York City and is underway from her 2012 arrest due police brutality. She reported that she suffered a seizure while being arrested. When she made an appearance on Democracy Now, she had bruises on her ribs and seemed to be limping. She had a hand-shaped bruise over her right breast. While on the show, she stated, "I ended a 40 hour stay in jail and ended up with all these bruises. I mean, that's- I have an open case, so I cant talk more about it, I'm sure you can tell that it would be difficult for me to remember some things. But I have these."

She faces up to seven years in prison being charged for second-degree assault. Police say she hit an officer in the head with her elbow but her attorney, Martin Stolar, pretty much says she was defending herself because someone was grabbing her right breast from behind. She didn't realize it was an officer. I personally found this topic interesting because I believe it is wrong for her to get such a high sentence for defending herself while someone inappropriately grabbed her.